NOTE: Newman, along with Jeremy Mayfield, represents Dodge Motorsports in
the 10-race Chase for the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship. Newman and
Mayfield experienced problems last Sunday at New Hampshire and
consequently rank ninth and 10th, respectively, with nine races remaining
in 2004. Newman trails by 136 points, while Mayfield is 142 points behind
the leaders entering Sunday's MBNA America 400 at Dover
International Speedway. Newman is the defending race champion.

OPENING REMARKS

"We had an awesome car all weekend (at New
Hampshire), especially on Friday in practice and qualifying. With
Saturday getting rained out, we were pretty happy with the performance of
our weekend so far and looked forward to the race. We had a really great
racecar with our ALLTEL/Mobil 1 Dodge on Sunday. Something happened in
the engine. We don't exactly know what yet. With about 25 or 50 to
go or whatever it was there, and it eliminated us from competition. We
definitely had a shot at the win. We were leading at the point where we
pitted, even when we had the engine problems. Unfortunately, we
weren't able to continue.

"We look forward to Dover. Obviously last year we won both of the
races. This year we got caught up in one of the big wrecks. Part of that
was because I ran out of talent coming on pit road. If we can have no
green-flag stops at Dover this time I think we're going to have a
good shot at the win."

DO YOU FEEL A FINALITY WITH THIS POINTS' SYSTEM?

"We're
just going to go there with the same plan we had at Loudon and
that's to win the race, lead the most laps and get the most bonus
points possible. Have a shot at the pole, get good pit selection which is
critical at Dover and every other racetrack. Just stay focused. After the
race there Sunday, we went out on top. Unfortunately we went out, but the
good thing is we went out on top and we haven't been able to do
that this year as far as performance goes. I felt good to be that
competitive and be up front pretty much every lap of the race. I look
forward to the opportunity for the last nine races. I think we've
learned a lot getting up to these last 10 races. I think you'll see
a lot stronger 12 car in the last 10."

IS THERE A DIFFERENT FEELING GOING INTO THE CHASE?

"I don't
think so. The feeling is still the same. You're doing your best. If
you win the championship by a point or lose it by a point or win it by
150 points, you're still trying your hardest. That happens from the
first lap you run off the truck to the checkered flag drops on Saturday
or Sunday. We'll just stay focused. I think the ultimate goals are
the same for every team and that's to win the race on the
weekend."

COMMENT ON ROBBY GORDON-GREG BIFFLE FLAP AND HOW IT AFFECTED CHASE
CONTENDERS

"I got to watch some of the highlights. It pretty much
seems to me that when something like that happens with what Robby Gordon
did there's usually at least some kind of fine and usually
probation afterwards. I haven't heard anything in regards to that.
It was obvious he took out the 16 car. I don't know if the 16 car
took out the 31 on purpose. I think that was maybe marginal, but Robby
obviously went back and took out the 16 car and the other cars at the
same time. It just kind of showed you how hot-headed he was at the time.
It's part of racing. It's happened to me before, and
it's happened to other drivers whether it's in the chase for
the championship or the first race of the year."

HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT BEING 136 POINTS OUT OF FIRST AFTER THE FIRST
CHASE RACE?

"I'm concerned for sure. We had a chance to be 30
points out of the lead versus 130. It definitely hurt. We've had to
fight back pretty much every season with this Penske Organization, and I
think this is just another 10-race season for us that we're going
to have to fight back. We're prepared to do that."

WILL IT BE THE SAME FOR WHOEVER WINS THE TITLE?

"It won't be
the same. I guess that's an obvious. If different is good, this is
the best potential we're going to have seeing if the winner of this
NEXTEL Cup championship feels as warm and fuzzy as winning the Winston
Cup championship in the past with the old points' system. I guess
that's to be determined. For me personally, I don't think
it's going to create the ultimate championship or the ultimate
champion. I guess that's to be determined."

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THE POINT THAT OTHER SPORTS HAVE TRIED SOMETHING
SIMILAR?

"I guess the traditionalist in me says this is stock car
and it's auto racing and we've become in my opinion one of
the biggest if not the biggest fans' sports in the United States.
We did it by what we had, not by what we're going to have. When
NASCAR takes the risk of changing that, we take just as much risk to go
downhill as uphill as far as the fan base we have and the following of
NASCAR, so everybody knows it was a risk to change the points'
system. We'll just see how it turns out."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN DRIVER AND CREW BEING
BROADCAST?

"You've got freedom and speech, and you've
got freedom to listen. The second thing is Robby lost his cool and it
didn't take somebody listening to him to be able to see that or to
be able to understand that. The way he drove the racecar proved it.
There's a couple of different ways to look at it, but the bottom
line is it's that way for a reason. It's that way because we
have fans. It's that way because we have sponsors. It'll
probably continue to be that way. Whether it's somebody cussing on
the radio or somebody's plans to get somebody back, it's part
of NASCAR right now."

HAS THE 12 TEAM REQUESTED FOR IN-CAR AUDIO NOT TO BE BROADCAST?

"To
the best of my knowledge I don't know anything about that. I
don't know about on-air, but I do know about on-internet
we've been broadcast. I've seen fans send emails back in
saying 'why did you say that to so and so?' or 'why did
you say that during the race?' That's all fine and dandy.
Like I said, it creates a fan following. Some people like it and some
people hate it, but either way I guess it creates some turmoil which I
guess is good for the sport. We'll just roll along with it. It
seems like no matter what the same people cause problems and create
situations that affect other people."

DOES A DRIVER NEED TO RETALIATE IMMEDIATELY ON TRACK?

"I think the
bottom line is NASCAR does manage that in a certain way. There are
drivers out there that are notorious for beating people around and at the
same time getting beat around because they do that. I guess in the grand
scheme of things, it's just like a lot of rules in NASCAR.
They're judgment calls. Certain drivers deserve to get punished and
certain drivers are on the receiving end and deserve to be able to get
the guy back. It's not something that should be talked about as
much as it should just maybe happen and just basically go with it.
There's a time and place, and you don't always have to hit
the guy back or spin the guy or crash the guy. You can go talk to him and
fix the situation without having to repay the guy. You've got to
keep in mind, too, that not only is that guy risking his life.
You're risking your life. You can look at it that way, but a lot
worse can happen other than just spinning the guy out."

HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATH?

"I glanced at it once
when I got home Sunday night, but I haven't even looked at it. I
haven't done any math. We're going to go to Dover and
we're going to go to Talladega and Kansas and every other place,
and we're going to go there to win. We're just going to stay
focused. We went out on top, which we haven't been able to do much
this year. We've been able to do it a few times as far as running
in the top five and having a good if not dominant car, but it felt good
to be able to run that good and that put a smile on my face after
Sunday."

DO YOU EXPECT SOME DRIVERS IN THE TOP 10 TO HAVE PROBLEMS EVERY WEEK?

"I expect there's going to be at least one car every weekend
that has a problem. Whether every car in the top 10 has a problem in the
last 10 races, obviously, nobody knows. I think having the three we had
this past weekend was probably on the high side. You'll never know.
We'll just go on and see what happens in these next races.
Talladega could wipe out all 10 of them or it could wipe out none. You
just never know."